Caster



H. JESPERSEN Nov. 9, 1965 GASTER Filed April 21, 1964 M mm W.

INVENTOR. flea/41K L/ESPERSEN MA NO 5 Lncnswen 0 Arron/vs 3,216,048 CASTER Henrik .lespersen, 1 Gadestaevnet, Hvidvre, Denmark Filed Apr. 21, 1964, Ser. No. 361,471 Claims priority, application Denmark, Apr. 23, 1963, 1,873/ 63 6 Claims. (Cl. 16-44) This invention relates to a caster of the kind which is frequently used for the support of chairs, couches or other kinds of furniture which might be temporarily loaded for instance by a person. Casters of this kind are previously known, but they are of very big dimensions and relatively expensive.

It is an object of this invention to provide a caster with extremely small dimensions and of a very simple and cheap construction.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a caster by which the spring shall only be adapted for carrying the weight of the furniture and which will be compressed as soon as the furniture is further loaded, for instance by a person, in such a manner that the supplementary load is only to a small extent carried by the spring, the rest of the load being carried by such members which are firmly secured to the furniture. In this manner it is obtained that the furniture may easily be pushed as long as it is not subjected to any additional load, but if for instance a person is placed on a chair which is provided with casters in accordance with the invention, the chair will then be supported by said members and will stand firmly on the floor.

According to a further object of this invention, a caster of the kind described has a retaining member to be secured to the furniture, a wheel which is rotatably mounted at one end of the spring, the other end of which is mounted in the retaining member swingably about a substantially vertical axis, the retaining member being provided with a bell-shaped supporting member enclosing the spring and extending so far downwards relative to the wheel that it will cover the wheel entirely, when the spring is compressed by the weight of the load.

It will be understood that by using such kind of casters, for instance on the four legs of a chair, each wheel and the corresponding spring shall only carry a quarter of the total weight of the chair which opens the possibility of using very small dimensions for the wheel and the spring so that also an attractive appearance is obtained.

Further objects and purposes of this invention will appear from the following specification with reference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a caster in accordance with the invention, see from below;

FIG. 2 shows a vertical section through caster in accordance with the invention, placed at the lower end of a leg of a chair or similar furniture which is not subjected to any additional load;

FIG. 3 shows the same vertical section as in FIG. 2 but in the condition where the chair has been subjected to an additional load;

FIG. 4 shows a chair provided with casters on the three legs, the chair being in unloaded condition, and

FIG. 5 shows the same chair loaded with a person, sitting on the chair.

FIGS, 1 and 2 show a caster having a retaining member 11 with a pin 12 at the opposite side thereof. The pin 12 is inserted in a boring 13 in the lower part of a leg 14 of a chair or other piece of furniture. The pin 12 further serves as a bearing for a vertical end 15 of a spiral spring 16, the other end 17 of which serves as a swivel for a wheel or roller 18. In order to secure the States Patent 0 wheel 18 on the swivel 17 this has a deformation 19 adjacent at the outer end thereof, and in the same manner the vertical end 15 has a deformation 20.

The retaining member 11 is provided with a bell-shaped supporting member 21 which covers the spring 16 and part of the wheel 18 and in the upper inner surface of the bell-shaped part an annual groove 22 is provided.

In FIG. 3 it is seen how the spring 16 is compressed by an additional load on the leg 14 so that the bell-shaped portion 21 now completely covers the wheel 18 and bears against the floor. Simultaneously a part of the spring 16 will occupy the annual groove 22.

In FIG. 4 a chair is shown having three legs 14, each provided with a caster 10. The chair has a seat 23 and as the seat is unloaded, the wheels 18 of the three casters 10 are to be seen at least partly.

In FIG. 5 the same chair is shown with a person sitting on the seat 23 of the chair, and consequently the casters are now supported directly with the bell-shaped parts bearing on the floor so that the wheels are not to be seen.

What is claimed is:

1. A caster for the support of chairs, couches and other kinds of furniture which might be temporarily loaded, said caster having a retaining member to be secured to the furniture, a wheel which is rotatably mounted at one end of a spring, the other end of which is mounted in the retaining member swingably about a substantially vertical axis, the retaining member being provided with a bell-shaped supporting member enclosing the spring and extending so far downwards relative to the wheel that it will cover the wheel entirely, when the spring is compressed by the weight of the load.

2. A caster as claimed in claim 1 and wherein the spring is of conical or spiral configuration.

3. A caster for the support of chairs, couches and other kinds of furniture which might be temporaril loaded, said caster having a retaining member to be secured to the furniture, a wheel which is rotatably mounted at one end of a conical or spiral spring, which end forms the swivel of the wheel, the other end of the spring being mounted in the retaining member swingably about a substantially vertical axis, the retaining member being provided with a bell-shaped supporting member enclosing the spring and extending so far downwards relative to the wheel that it will cover the wheel entirely, when the spring is compressed by the weight of the load.

4. A caster as claimed in claim 3 and wherein the retaining member is provided with an upwardly extending pin serving partly to secure the member in a recess in the furniture, partly as a bearing for said vertical end of the spring.

5. A caster for the support of chairs, couches and other kinds of furniture which might be temporarily loaded, said caster having a retaining member to be secured to the furniture, a wheel which is rotatably mounted at one end of the conical or spiral spring, which end forms the swivel of the wheel, the other end of the spring being mounted in the retaining member swingably about a substantially vertical axis, the retaining member being provided with a bell-shaped supporting member enclosing the spring and extending so far downwards relative to the wheel that it will cover the wheel entirely, when the spring is compressed by the weight of the load, the bellshaped supporting member having in the upper inner surface thereof a groove concentrically with the vertical end of the spring.

6. A caster for the support of chairs, couches and other kinds of furniture which might be temporarily loaded, said caster having a retaining member to be secured to the furniture, a wheel which is rotatably mounted at one end of a conical or spiral spring which end forms the swivel of the wheel, the other end of the spring being mounted in the retaining member swingably about a substantially vertical axis, the retaining member being provided with a bell-shaped supporting member enclosing the spring and extending so far downwards relative to the wheel that it will cover the wheel entirely, when the spring is compressed by the weight of the load, the bellshaped supporting member having a substantially cylindrical inner surface and a substantially conical outer surface diverging downwardly.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS JOSEPH D. SEERS, Primary Examiner.

DONLEY J. STOCKING, Examiner. 

1. A CASTER FOR THE SUPPORT OF CHAIRS, COUCHES AND OTHER KINDS OF FURNITURE WHICH MIGHT BE TEMPORARILY LOADED, SAID CASTER HAVING A RETAINING MEMBER TO BE SECURED TO THE FURNITURE, A WHEEL WHICH IS ROTATABLY MOUNTED AT ONE END OF A SPRING, THE OTHE@R END OF WHICH IS MOUNTED IN THE RETAINING MEMBER SWINGABLY ABOUT A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL AXIS, THE RETAINING MEMBER BEING PROVIDED WITH A BELL-SHAPED SUPPORTING MEMBER ENCLOSING THE SPRING AND EXTENDING SO FAR DOWNWARDS RELATIVE TO THE WHEEL THAT IT WILL COVER THE WHEEL ENTIRELY, WHEN THE SPRING IS COMPRESSED BY THE WEIGHT OF THE LOAD. 